What We Found in the Ruins

It took me two years to write my novel, though it took twenty to get started. When I was done, I flopped over at the finish line. I’d stuffed every idea—good, bad, and half-cocked—into one project. I did the only thing that came to mind; I replayed Uncharted. Video Games and Me My family had […]

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Quick Reviews: Vacation Books

This list is not exactly vacation book recommendations; it’s the books I read during my vacation the second week of June. I visited the East coast and spent a week with my mother in New Hampshire, where I did a lot of reading. Here are the books that I read, in order: 1. Bridge of […]

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Minecraft for President

Chuck and I started playing Minecraft in March 2014–not exactly early adopters. I had previously tried a demo of the game on Xbox: I chopped down a tree; the demo ended. We stick to our PS3 most of the time; that’s the console we’re familiar with and the controller that feels most comfortable. Chuck purchased a […]

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The Courage to Speak

The Binders of Women Writers group and the flurry of #binders activity on Twitter has made me think in the past couple of days about my own writing, or lack thereof. Who’s Out There? I taught literature and composition at the University of Houston in the mid-90s; I was a teaching assistant in the MFA […]

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Review: Casebook

Chuck and I visited Portland recently and while browsing at Powell’s I saw Casebook, a new book by Mona Simpson. I try not to buy too many books in hardback; I can’t afford it, plus I don’t have the space for them. But there are some authors I must have immediately, and Mona Simpson is […]

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A Note Going Forward

This is a sad day. The truth is I hoped the problem would fix itself, but those of us who read online advice columns know that’s not realistic, in business and/or personal relationships. We’ve got to face this thing head on. Fantasy authors, I’m issuing a moratorium on the use of “savor” as a verb. […]

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The Decorative Arts

Pottery Barn recommends bar stools for Casual Entertaining. The picture in the catalog depicts a full bar in a wine warehouse, old wood barrels stacked in the background. Just like we all have in our vineyard, for casual wine-tasting events. In interior shots of rooms in catalogs, windows often have no curtains or blinds, presumably […]

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Review: Boneshaker

I am not a Yankee by nature, given my third-generation immigrant heritage, but I consider myself a Yankee by nurture, in that I’ve lived most of my life in Connecticut or Massachusetts, I talk fast, and I’m not real friendly. I grew up hearing about the Pilgrims and the Revolutionary War. I thought everybody knew […]

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Read What You Want

Goodreads has a Reading Challenge in which you set yourself a reading goal, i.e., a number of books you’ll read this year, and get a widget to keep other people updated on your progress. Now, there are many things I like about the Goodreads site. The book-networking aspect is terrific. One of my connections posts […]

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